Posts Tagged ‘EBT card’

Jeepers Creepers! It is the End of the Month and the WIC or SNAP funds are pretty much toast. The family has to eat…what’s a family to DO?

Making the food budget and the month come out even can be tricky, as you surely have experienced. I have a couple of ideas that may help you get everybody nourished and not have to go to bed hungry.

There was a time when eggs were a bargain. Today that is no longer true. You already know that beans and rice are good values but I’m guessing you’ve had your fill of those.

What about lentils? Have you tried those? They cook in about 20 minutes, come in a variety of colors, provide great fiber and protein and they are cheap as anything.

If you have some onion or carrot to jazz lentils up a bit to add color and nutrition, that is a plus. Just throw some rinsed lentils of whatever color you have into a saucepan, cover them with water, put the lid on the pan and bring them to a boil. When they have reached the boiling point, reduce the heat and let them simmer til they are tender. I like to saute any veggies I add but you don’t need to do that if you are in a rush.

If you are fortunate to have prunes, raisins, canned fruit of any kind, that makes a nutritious dessert and your tummy will thank you.

Another inexpensive go-to is rice and spinach–or any greens you may have access to…turnip greens, kale, chard or cabbage–even beet tops. Cook the rice, add the chopped greens at the last moment to let them wither. Season them with salt, pepper and any other seasonings your gang likes. If you have the luxury of bread, you might like to toast it to offer some crunch to the menu.

If you have other EOM meals that you are famous for, let us know by sending an email to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com . WE LOVE MAIL.

We love YOU, too. People who depend on public assistance for their food dollars are not exactly livin’ the dream. We understand and just want to help a little.

You who have shared this site with others by joining and spreading the word are really doing your part to help others. We offer a little series of cooking tips we hope will give you some concrete help. It would be more fun if we could hang out in your kitchen or go grocery shopping with you … this seems to be the next best thing.

Summer is quickly drawing to a close and we’ll be talking about cooler weather ideas soon. Be well, people, and know that you are loved.

Connie Baum

PS/Please visit the website for SENCA if you are a resident of South East Nebraska. You may find resources there that will be helpful to you and yours. For instance, they are hosting a FREE cooking class tomorrow in Tecumseh, NE. Their motto is “Helping People; Changing Lives”…it is worth a peek!

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

Mother Connie suffers greatly these days from GUILT. There is so much going on in life and times here that it’s easy to get caught up and squeeze out even the things that are important to consider and share. Each of YOU is important to me and I have not shown that by failing to post fresh information often enough. I’m truly sorry.

I found a piece I want to share with anyone who uses Public Assistance. It is helpful, insightful, and full of tips and ideas for people who hold EBT cards for SNAP or WIC. I hope you will enjoy and appreciate the content as much as I did.

It’s not been written this week but it does contain useful information about feeding a family from a food bank.

Look for more regularly posts after August 1, when a huge project will end and the blog can again be a focus.

By the way, nobody here profits if you click on the link above. Nothing to buy here. No fancy apps. Just a helping hand when it comes to feeding your family as low cost as can be! We love your feedback; use our email: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com . Thank you!

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

Here’s hoping you have not felt terribly neglected over the past months…we have been a little busy helping The Normanator recover from open heart surgery and conduct his cardiac rehab program. You can tell that our dining room is a tad disheveled but the kitchen is cheery and I love being there to prepare our meals.

Today I want to share with you how our food pantry was a huge, ginormous help to us. Occasionally they get truckloads of goodies that must be used ASAP. Yesterday was one of those days. I went there for a meeting and upon my leave, I had bag after bag after bag of fresh ORGANIC spinach and other greens! I was thrilled to have this fresh produce but I knew we could not use it all. I wondered who I could bless…

After most of the spinach had found new homes and delighted their receivers I set about to think of how I could best use the greens before they withered.

Here’s what happened: I made a white sauce in my 4 quart saucepan, using some coconut oil, flour, milk and just a touch of salt and pepper. I stirred it till it thickened and then I added all the freshly rinsed and drained spinach. It completely filled the pot to overflowing. I gently stirred the mixture as it heated. The warmer the pot and its contents, the more quickly the greens withered into a bright mass, soaking up the lovely white sauce.

It just so happened that my “cook once/eat twice” adage was working for me…I rummaged in the freezer to find a freezer container that was full and marked “cooked and seasoned ground beef”! I thawed that in a bit of beef broth til it was heated through thoroughly, stirring occasionally.

Just as I removed the lovely creamed spinach from the heat I sprinkled a little nutmeg over top. Mmmmm it smelled DIVINE. It was just as tasty.

I easily made a cheap and cheerful meal for almost no $. I am a happy girl!

Are you living on a dime? Do you use SNAP or WIC goods by having an EBT card? Maybe you receive food commodities or get help from a food pantry. The dish I described above can be made with canned spinach and if you have no beef, chicken, rice or orzo or potatoes could be substituted. We just wanna help those of you who depend on public assistance for your food dollars.

Our SENCA, South East Community Action, Center will be hosting a cooking class in Tecumseh, Nebraska on July 24. For more information you can email me: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com. There is no charge for the class but you will need to know what to bring. *It’s gonna be FUN!

Here’s hoping your summer is making your heart sing! It really feels good to be blogging for you again.

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

The Normanator and I grew up eating liver and loving it. ONE guy at church brings it once a month; he obviously loves it, too. But hardlyanyone likes it, really.

Before you turn away in disgust, just see how we prepare it at our house:

It is rinsed and we make sure the membrane is cut away from the meat. That membrane is what makes the meat tough…ugh! As soon as it is rinsed, each piece is laid out on a clean dishtowel. *You could use paper toweling, if you have it, but that uses up lots of trees. Just sayin’…

After it has been patted dry, each slice is dunked into an egg mixture…just eggs, beaten slightly.

Next it is drawn through seasoned flour and the flour is seasoned liberally with salt, pepper and curry powder. Any excess is gently shaken away.

These pieces are set aside on a platter while 2 or 3 onions are peeled and sliced. Those go into a bit of oil in a cold oven-worthy skillet or baking pan. The meat is layered over the onions, a cover is set and the whole thing goes into a COLD oven. The oven is set at *350 for about 45 minutes to an hour. That’s when it’s safe to peek into the oven to check the doneness of the meat with a fork. If the meat is tender and nicely browned and the onions are clear, with juice in the bottom of the pan, your food is ready to serve. If you want the meat to cook longer, just leave it in the oven til it looks the way you like it.

We like to serve this with spinach. Sometimes I cream it. If I do this, mashed potatoes are added to the menu, so the creamed veg tops the potatoes like gravy. Other times we season the spinach with salt and pepper and a few drops of rice vinegar. *Any vinegar will do. Spinach is beyond delicious when a pinch of nutmeg is added just before it’s served. Nutmeg can be added to the creamed version; but adding vinegar to that is inadvisable.

This blog is dedicated to users of Public Assistance for their food dollars. Food budgets that are strengthened by EBT cards and WIC need all the help available. So do those budgets dependent on food commodities or food drops or food pantries. We hope our target audience finds help from our offerings.

There is a place in the upper right hand corner for people who might like to get a series of cooking tips. Just click the button and you are instantly a Member of the Food Stamps Cooking Club! We cherish each member and value your thoughts and opinions. If you have ideas to share you are welcome to send us a messsage:

foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

There is nothing to buy; no fancy apps. Just common sense ideas for frugal food prep! With a bit of humor, served on the side.

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

The weather in our part of the world invites this cook to make soup for lunch! *The weather most any day does this; we are soup LOVERS.

We are also frugal. Lunch ‘out’ is way spendy, unless lunch ‘out’ means we are eating on the deck…and today it’s way too windy for THAT ! grin

A good friend will be here to share our lunch. I’m going to make a low cost soup so good she will beg for seconds.

Here’s what I’ll do:

Saute` 1/2 an onion in a bit of oil *I prefer coconut; you use what YOU like best.

I’ll add a couple of carrots, scrubbed and sliced and toss in a 2 or 3 ribs of chopped celery. I’ll cook this over a medium heat til they are tender and fragrant. Just for fun I’ll season the mixture with salt, pepper and a touch of garlic powder.

I’ll set that skillet aside and put 1 cup of rinsed lentils into a saucepan. I’ll cover those with 2+ cups of broth and bring those to a boil. As soon as they have come to a boil I will add the veggies I sauteed earlier. The whole soup will be finished in about 20 minutes!

SIDEBAR: If you do not have broth, or don’t care to use it don’t fret. Broth only makes the soup richer. Nobody will croak if you use water. But you might like to season the water with rosemary or sage or garlic. Make it taste the way YOU like it to taste! Golly, you can season BROTH that way, too! Also, if you have a bigger family you’ll want to use more lentils and more cooking liquid. END SIDEBAR.

Lentils are a complete protein so there is no reason to add rice or barley or any other grain. But this meal will be more complete if it is accompanied by a veggie salad.

I browsed through the fridge and came up with mushrooms, Romaine lettuce, red onion, celery, cherry tomatoes, red, green, and yellow peppers. Methinks this collection of goodness will make a bright, crisp companion for the Lentil Soup.

The Normanator likes crackers in his soup. I think I’ll change things up a bit and pop some corn to use as “croutons”…it’s good fiber, no gluten and makes the house smell yummy.

Lunch is ready. Won’t you join us? (I WISH.)

This soup is so easy that children could help.

If you have an EBT card for SNAP or WIC we hope this blog is helpful for you. If you use food commodities or food from a food drop or food pantry we want to help you s t r e t c h your food budget!

We welcome your comments and we are thrilled to have new members! foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com will get us your comments!

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

PS/Next month SENCA will host a cooking class dealing with seasonings. We would LOVE to have your ideas about how YOU use spices and herbs…you have our address…just sayin’

There is an organization in our small rural town dedicated to helping people and changing lives. It is South East Nebraska Community Action–or SENCA, for short. One of the programs sponsored by SENCA is an annual Woman of Distinction event, honoring the amazing women of Johnson County, Nebraska.

It is costly to present this affair so to raise funds to defray the costs a Potato Bake was put on so the public could make a freewill offering, have a great meal, and have a really good time.

The SENCA office location was host for the evening. Their Advisory Board, made up of 7 people in the community who are just average folks in the community did the planning, cooking, serving and of course, clean up.

They baked a LOT of potatoes; they set out an array of toppings that were mouth watering and pretty. The offerings included butter, sour cream, grated cheese, broccoli, creamed corn, bacon bits, chopped ham and well seasoned chunks of chicken. Beverages were iced tea and water.

SIDEBAR: Other items were considered but to minimize cost these were omitted: onions, chives, chili, salsa, red/green peppers, chopped lettuce and olives. END SIDEBAR.

The plates were colored to match SENCA‘s theme colors: red and blue; the flatware was delivered to their door by one of the Advisory Board members who happens to be a minister. The kitchen at his church was missing all its flatware that evening! (Every piece is in its proper home this morning!)

The potatoes that did not get consumed were toted to a sister agency in a nearby town. The leftover veg was stowed in the SENCA fridge and some of the meat went into the freezer for use by the SENCA cook. There was not a shred of waste!

I mention all this because it got me thinking how easy it is to make up fixin’s for baked potatoes for a hungry family. The cook might spend an evening or a day off afternoon chopping whatever veggies the family favors and keep them in the fridge til they are needed. Well scrubbed potatoes will cook nicely in the crock pot til it’s time for the evening meal. Various toppings could be set out for each diner to decorate his potato to his own liking and no one would be put upon after a tiring day of work. And the food budget would still be intact!

SIDEBAR: IF you have a dishwasher, loading potatoes into it is a slick and simple way to get a lot of taters clean in a hurry! That’s how the SENCA bunch pre-cooked theirs! When those taters came out of the dishwasher they were checked for spots, oiled and placed on baking sheets to slide into the ovens! END SIDEBAR.

Users of EBT cards from WIC or SNAP might find this idea useful, if not new. If you or someone you know uses food from food commodities or a food pantry, this is just one more way to make life a wee bit easier. Maybe you have things from a food drop or church food pantry…dressing up the humble potato is a wonderful way to add fiber, nutrition, flavor and oomph to what might otherwise be a boring tater!

As you who are Members of this humble Cooking Club know, we dedicate this piece of cyberspace to those who depend on public assistance for their food budgets. We intend for it to be a helpful asset. We also hope you will share your stories and experiences with us. If you like, you may write to us at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com. WE LOVE HEARING FROM OUR MEMBERS!

We also hope you are getting benefit from the little series of cooking tips we send along to new members.

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

It’s shameful that this corner of Cyberspace has been so sorely neglected. I make no excuses except to say I have a lot on my plate. But Facebook posted something that was so important to me that I shared it on my Timeline.

Today a good friend mentioned that she was unable to post a comment here and sent me a private message. I am sharing part of our conversation here because it is SO important. And by the way, SO ARE EACH OF YOU!

Lorraine sent this:

“These days many people lack the knowledge that our aunts, and grandmothers took for granted that everyone knew such as the ideas expressed here on how to use every available resource to keep their families fed as inexpensively as possible.

Too many times we hear about some well meaning celebrity who tries to bring attention to the situation that all too many folks are going through…how to feed your family on the cheap and make it stretch.

While well intentioned, often times they truly have no idea how to go beyond the surface and really dig deep and utilize every resource available to them to fill their family’s bellies with highly nutritious foods in creative ways when there is not an unending supply of available real food.

Thank you, Lorraine. I so hope that our Members will cruise by the link you include. THERE is the reality of what $29.00 will really buy. To feed a family of 4 on this food FOR A WEEK? O my goodness.

People who manage their food dollars with EBT cards from WIC and/or SNAP; people whose youngsters would be hungry if not for food pantries or food drops or food commodities are people I want to serve.

There is some issue with posting comments on this blog…*Drat WordPressanyway…If you want to voice your opinion please direct your message to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com. EVERY comment we receive is read and receives a reply.

Thank you, all.

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

Mother Connie reluctantly poses in her kitchen for an avid photographer…

If you are of a “certain age” you may remember a radio show that kept home cooks mesmerized for decades. It was called Kitchen Klatter and originated from the home of Leanna Driftmier over radio waves from Shenandoah, Iowa.

Kitchen Klatter had a magazine, too. It was packed to the gills with news about the Driftmier family, recipes and adverts for their flavorings, cleaners and premiums.

I thought it would be fun to share one of the recipes from this publication. I am fortunate to own 2 copies because my good friend, Kris Brase, gave me a copy from her collection since one of my articles was published there long ago. The other copy came from a presentation Kris recently gave at our local Assisted Living facility. Oh, you should have heard those women carry on about how they never missed the program! One lady brought a stack of magazines from her mother’s collection! Another lady mentioned how her mother shushed her brood from 9 AM to 9:30 AM every weekday morning so Mom did not miss a single thing from the broadcast and could hear the recipe. She would copy every ingredient and the instructions in order to make it for her family’s evening meal!

I chose this recipe to share because it is affordable, nutritious and easy to make:

Spinach-Cheese Quiche

1/2 cup butter

4 oz cream cheese

1 cup flour

1 lb. fresh spinach, washed and trimmed

SIDEBAR: My cheap cheat here would be to use frozen spinach, thawed. But if you have fresh, go for it! END SIDEBAR.

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese (Use whatever you have or whatever is on sale!)

1 cup grated Swiss cheese (See above)

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup milk

***Optional: 8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

METHOD:

Combine butter, cream cheese and 1 cup of flour…with a fork cut butter and cream cheese in the flour til crumbly. Place in 0″ pie pan. Press to form crust. Refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 350*. Place spinach in covered kettle and cook til tender, drain well, chop, then drain again on paper towel or clean dishtowel.

In a large bowl, combine spinach with the 2 tablespoons of flour and the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Pour into chilled pie shell; bake for 1 hour or until set.

*This was offered in September 1985 from Mary Lea; Mother Connie’s notes are in italics because those who use public assistance for their food dollars may or may not have the ingredients Mary Lea lists. Our Members have learned to be adaptable!

Do YOU have an EBT card from SNAP or WIC? Are you dependent on food drops or food pantry food for your family’s meals? Maybe you just enjoy being frugal and squeezing a nickel til the buffalo bellows. In any case, this little piece of cyberspace is dedicated to YOU and helping YOU s t r e t c h YOUR food dollars as far as possible. We hope to be helpful in that regard.

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

I’ve always fancied spaghetti, macaroni and any other pasta product ever invented. Recently I’ve turned to the gluten free varieties and I do believe G-Free is my favorite now. It never gets mushy as it cooks! I bring well salted water to a boil, add the pasta, lowering the heat a bit.

SIDEBAR:My favorites are spaghetti or linguine but any pasta will do. END SIDEBAR.

I put a wooden spoon across the cooking pot instead of replacing the lid and let it simmer until the pasta is cooked–20 minutes.

For Midnight PastaI do as I’ve described and while it bubbles I take a whole head of garlic (If you have a larger crowd around your dinner table, you’d want to add more garlic accordingly). I peel it and put it into a skillet with a bit of olive or coconut oil. You’ll need to put it on a low heat and stir it occasionally. As the garlic cooks and sweetens it softens. When every bud has become soft, add a ladle or two of the pasta liquid and stir thoroughly.

JUST before you are ready to marry the garlic with the pasta, add 1 to 2 cups of Parmesan cheese to the garlic. *You may need to ladle more of the liquid from the pasta to melt the cheese.

Drain the pasta, dump the cooked product into a good sized bowl with the garlic mixture and toss it to thoroughly coat the goods. By this time, the aroma of the garlic has your taste buds crying, “HURRY! GET THIS TO THE TABLE! WE ARE HUNGRY!” grin

A crisp green salad and maybe a slice or two of garlic bread per diner makes a complete feast with lots and lots of flavor for very little money !

As you know, this little corner of the internet is devoted to users of Public Assistance for their food dollars. We hope we are helping those who have EBT cards from SNAP and WIC and those who get goods from Food Pantries, Food Commodities and generous gardeners or neighbors who wish to be helpful. We are not fancy/schmancy; there are no apps and certainly there is nothing to buy. We mean to HELP your budget, not desecrate it!

**Just because we have ads doesn’t mean you are obligated to spend money!

Because of computer issues we have been conspicuously absent. While being offline we have found some ideas we cannot wait to share with you! We’ll want to tell you about the Cooking Class, too! It was such fun and it’s a pity you could not ALL attend!

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.

Of course you could pick up a can of soup somewhere but soup from scratch, seasoned to your specific preference is so delicious. Squash soup is particularly filling, nutritious and easy to prepare!

Turban squash came to my attention when I went through my “Macrobiotic Phase” … I had never seen one of these beauties before and was fascinated by their unusual color and shape. Turban squash are very dense and difficult to cut but once you’ve managed to open them up it is a breeze to oil the exposed flesh and place them on a baking sheet, flesh side down. I roasted two of these babies in the oven for about an hour and a half at 325*. Ovens vary…ours runs hot so you can see if 350* is good for YOUR oven. Adjust the temperature accordingly.

As the roasting process went on I chopped a huge leek into rings, soaked them in a bowl full of cold water. I rinsed them and cut the rings into quarters. I sauteed these with a bit of veg oil until they were soft, adding salt and pepper.

When the squash came out of the oven, I scooped out the seeds. Some folks like to roast those with a bit of salt for a snack. Those are not popular at our house so I disposed of them, as I did with the outer shell.

The dark yellow-orange flesh of the squash went into the food processor, as did the sauteed leeks.

SIDEBAR: No food processor? Not to worry. A potato masher works quite well. The job will go faster if you add a bit of hot water and/or broth to your soup pot as you mash. The idea is to break up the stringy pulp that remains so your soup will be smooth.END SIDEBAR.

From the food processor the squash and leeks went into the soup pot, along with enough chicken broth to cover everything. You could use vegetable broth, as well. It’s a matter of using whatever you have. After tasting this mixture I added a bit more salt and ONE TABLESPOON of brown sugar. That was the magic bullet!

To make a thicker soup I added 1 tablespoon of corn starch. That didn’t quite DO it for me, so I put in some leftover mashed potatoes that were just sitting in the fridge, waiting to be of service. When I was satisfied that the soup was thick enough I called it quits. I wanted this to be smooth and creamy so I added milk until it had the consistency and color that pleased me. You might prefer a thinner soup…it’s all about what YOU like.

As the soup gently simmered I taste tested it again. It needed just a little something/something so I added a tiny bit of thyme. I thought it was yummy but to make sure, I offered a spoonful to our house guest, who raved that it was “BRILLIANT!”. Before I served the soup, I sprinkled some dried parsley into the pot to add some color.

SIDEBAR: Had it been available, fresh parsley would have been ideal. I dunno about YOU but we don’t have the luxury of fresh herbs so we lean on the dried versions. END SIDEBAR.

We had half a dozen lunch guests on the day this was served. Each of them has far more experience in the kitchen than I. Everyone complimented the cook on the soup so I think that qualifies me to announce that Turban Squash Soup was a huge hit!

*I should have made a double batch! It would be easy to do and that way there could be another meal, waiting in the freezer!

Changing the subject abruptly, I want to let you know that there will be a cooking class for users of EBT cards from WIC, food pantry users, and those who have food commodities! It will be held on Friday, November 14 at 1:30 PM at the SENCA office in Tecumseh, Nebraska. If you are in the area and wish to participate, just call the SENCA office to let them know you’ll be there. There is NO CHARGE for this class but we need to count noses so we’ll have enough food for the attendees! I plan to show how to use things from your food bundles that are easy, cheap and tasty!

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there might be links on this page. Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated. Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline. Always do business with those you trust implicitly.